


Wiz KID

by Phantoms_Echo



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Angst, Anything with Kaito should have Crack as a tag, Author should really go to bed but is instead doing this, Conan is just done, Crack, Haibara is a smartypants, Kaito dresses as a girl 'cause disguises, Kaito has an IQ of 400, Kaito is a smartypants, M/M, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, Oh -there it is, One Shot, Where did my crack go?, Why is there angst?, at least when he has an IQ of 400, at the end there, probably
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-12-04 21:27:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11563662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phantoms_Echo/pseuds/Phantoms_Echo
Summary: Kaito had an IQ of 400. When he was young, it was a fun number to toss around, but there were only so many times he could see the shocked and surprised looks on his classmates faces before he got bored.Then he became Kaitou KID.Now, after five months, he was bored again.Except, hello, there’s a tiny child on this roof.





	Wiz KID

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito 1412, only the actions and ideas of this fic.
> 
>  
> 
> So I didn't realize that Kaito's IQ was so high, or that so many people fought over who was smarter: Conan or Kaito. I had to get in on the action. :)
> 
> This was supposed to be a lot funnier than it turned out. I put my original idea at the very end, so you can see how I thought a 400 IQ Kaito would act (something like Deadpool? He'd be a total fourth-wall breaker, I think). I also know that the method I described is *not* the way IQs are calculated, but I had to come up with *something* for an IQ of 400. I don't think any tests go above 200??? I'm kind of curious about my own IQ now...
> 
> Anyway, please enjoy!

Kaito had an IQ of 400. When he was young, it was a fun number to toss around, but now, it was just sad. No one, and he means _no one_ , could challenge him anymore. He finished homework in minutes and could complete tests in his sleep. His inventions were spectacular, but there were only so many times he could see the shocked and surprised looks on his classmates faces before he got bored.

Then he became Kaitou KID.

Things were good for a while. The Taskforce presented another audience as did the crowd that appeared at Kaito’s heists. His tricks became more death-defying, more complex, and he couldn’t help the thrill of adrenaline that sang through his veins. One particular heist, the one at the clocktower, still left him shivering. He never _had_ gotten the name of that detective, the one that seemed to know his thoughts before even Kaito did. That detective had disappeared as quickly as he had come.

Now, after five months, he was bored again.

Except, hello, there’s a tiny child on this roof.

“Isn’t it your bedtime?” he questioned aloud. “What are you doing up here?”

“Fireworks!” the kid quirked a smile and lit up the bottle rocket that lay between his knees. The rocket shot up, bright as a flare and all of a sudden, the helicopters were swinging around, floodlights darting like spotlights on a stage.

An almost forgotten thrill of adrenaline shot through him. He felt a giddy sense of relief, even as the kid smirked at him like Kaito was already caught. Kaito couldn’t help himself.

He took out the radio that he’d liberated earlier, cleared his throat, and called every officer of the law down on himself. The kid, bless his heart, looked shocked and down-right confused by his actions. Kaito felt a very KID-like grin spread across his face. The officers were quick to surround him, but a flash grenade froze everyone in their tracks.

“Nice one, boy,” Kaito laughed, “but tonight is meant for something else. I hope I see you for the real heist.”

An accompanying smoke bomb and Kaito was out of sight, hidden by the uniform clothes of a police officer and easily blending into the crowd around him. The adrenaline had yet to leave his system, making his heart beat double-time and a giddy laugh bubble up his throat in the ensuing confusion. Had he finally found a match after all this time? Someone who could even _attempt_ to match his wits?

And a child no less?

Blue eyes glared at him from across the roof, but made no move to approach.

His skin tingled under that stare.

*             *             *             *             *

 “Muuu…. Kaito? Bakaito! Are you even listening to me?!” Aoko put her hands on her hips, trying to draw his attention away from the tablet in his hands. “Class is going to start soon!”

Kaito knew that, but he also knew that he’d read this chapter two weeks ago and could recite it word for word and draw the accompanying illustrations _perfectly_.

“Fine! Get in trouble!” Aoko huffed and turned away. “See if I care!”

Kaito breathed a sigh of relief and winced at his own reaction. He loved Aoko, he really did, but… she was so _frustrating_ sometimes. She didn’t _get_ him. To be fair, most people didn’t, but it hurt just a little more coming from his childhood friend. Sometimes, he just needed… an equal.

Like Edogawa Conan, the boy he was currently researching.

There was no information on him longer than four months back. It was like the kid appeared out of nowhere. Sure, he had the birth certificate and medical records, but when Kaito took a closer (and probably illegal) look into it, the documentation was obviously faked. Good fakes, but fakes nonetheless. The kid had to have some powerful people in his court… and a really good reason to stay hidden.

Which he didn’t seem to be doing, running out in the middle of a KID heist and all.

Kaito groaned and dug a hand through his hair.

“Kuroba-san, please answer the question on the board,” the teacher ordered.

“The answers are 17 and 256,” Kaito answered with only a brief glance up.

“The question only has one ans-!”

“The second was the answer to the question on your clipboard that you will write next.”

“How did you…?”

Kaito could reply with the truth –he’d seen the question reflected in the teacher’s glasses when he looked down, but where would the fun in that be?

Instead, he smiled mysteriously and happily took the rest of the class period cyber-stalking his newest interest.

*             *             *             *             *

Kaito should have seen this coming, he really should have.

If anyone could see through his disguises, it would be this kid. And he’d done exactly that.

“Where is Ran?” the kid, Edogawa, demanded. He had a foot balanced menacingly on a soccer ball, as if it posed any real threat to KID.

“Oh, don’t worry. I _never_ hurt the ladies,” Kaito smirked, “I am a _gentleman_ thief, after all.”

“ _Where is she_?!” Oh dear, didn’t look like the kid would play along. Kaito had been hoping for some banter, something for him to get the giddy jitters out, but it looked like the kid wasn’t going to let him have his fun.

“She’s safe.” Kaito waved a hand, “After I put her to sleep, I hid her in one of the safety boats. But you know…”

He slid a hand into the neckline of the dress he was wearing, dragging the pretty white bra up. Devilish smile on his face, he cooed, “I have this awful habit of being a perfectionist. I had to get everything right -same hair, same dress, same… well… you get me, right?”

By the look on this kid’s face, he did, indeed, get Kaito. Those soft cheeks were half-flushed, half-pale at the thought of his sister being left naked on a ship of hundreds. It really was too enticing for Kaito to resist. He’d never actually leave a lady like that, but the kid didn’t know. He wished he had more time to mess with the boy.

Alas, he had to make his getaway, now that the pearl was in his grasp.

“You better hurry before someone finds her.” he warned, right before covering his eyes and throwing a flash grenade. His escape afterwards was perfect… ly horrible. A swim in the ocean is something he _never_ wants to experience again.

(So. Many. F-f-finny things!)

*             *             *             *             *

 “Conan-kun!”

The boy looked up at the call of his name. A wave had him leaving his friends behind and heading over. A pleasant smile should have been enough to dissuade his suspicions, but it didn’t.

“KID,” the boy scowled, “What are you doing here?”

“What do you mean?” came the reply. “I’m not KID.”

“You’re not Ran, that’s for sure,” Conan scoffed. “She had karate club today.”

“Ah, you’re right!” Kaito put his hands on his hips. “It’s no fun when you cheat!”

“It’s not cheating,” Conan growled, “and this isn’t a game! What do you want?”

“Hmm…” Kaito stared at the boy, far less cute with the serious frown.

“If there’s nothing-!”

“Ice cream.”

“Eh…” the confused look was much more adorable. “Ex- _cuse_ me?!”

“You’re excused,” Kaito replied, clasping his hands behind his back. He leaned forward with a smile. “Let’s go, Conan-kun!”

“If you think I’m going _anywhere with you_ -!”

“I’ll buy you coffee.” Kaito could see the gear turning, the kid carefully weighing the scales of going with a (pretty much) complete stranger and getting some delicious (bad for kids) caffeinated drink. Yes, Kaito had done his research.

“You get fifteen minutes.” Conan jabbed a finger at him.

“I want an hour!”

“You get _half_ that!”

Kaito grinned. It was still more than he’d been hoping for.

The cafe was close, less than a five minute walk. They were in, seated, and had their orders filled in half the time.

“So what is it you wanted, KID?” Conan asked, sipping actual coffee from a coffee mug… _black_. (Kaito shuddered.)

“Just to ask some questions.” Kaito said, pulling out a booklet from his purse.

“Is that…” Conan squinted. “Is that an _IQ test booklet_?”

“Child’s edition, yes.” Kaito replied with a grin.

“ _Why_ in the _world_ do you _have that_?!”

“You, a boy of six-years-old, solved my notice letter and unraveled my disguise. While the taskforce gets close with the letters, they’ve never discovered me until I revealed myself.” Kaito replied as he fished a pen out and shoved a good scoop of chocolate ice cream into his mouth. “Ahm curwious.”

“You’re seriously telling me that you tracked down my school, disguised yourself and bribed me with coffee _just_ to test my IQ?” Conan stared at Kaito. Kaito stared back. A few moments of silence and Conan hung his head in defeat. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Lots of the questions were easy (at least, to Kaito), so the duo finished in no time. Conan ordered another coffee, this time to-go, while Kaito tallied up his score. The older boy felt a flutter in his stomach when he saw the score 165 –nowhere close to his, but far above genius level. He told Conan as much.

“Just think of how smart you’ll be in ten years!” Kaito gushed, hugging the booklet to his fake breasts, but the kid didn’t look happy. He muttered something under his breath and threw back the dredges of his coffee. If Kaito’s ears weren’t decieving him, the boy had said something like ‘sixteen again’. “What was that?”

Conan started, shoulders coming to his ears. A fake, childish smile flitted across his teeth as he said, “N-Nothing.”

“You said ‘sixteen _again’_.” Kaito pressed the book in his hands to the table. “How old are you?”

“S-six?” It was more of a question than an answer. Kaito narrowed his eyes.

“Funny, when I looked at your birth certificate, it said you were seven.”

“Ah-that’s right! I… had my birthday! I forgot!” Conan sheepishly rubbed at the back of his head.

Kaito leaned back and crossed his arms. “I lied about the birth certificate.”

Blue eyes widened in shock and fear, caught in the owner’s lie. “You never looked it up, did you?”

“Oh, I did.” Kaito shrugged, “It was a fake. A nice one, but a thief knows what a fake looks like when he sees it.”

Conan winced and shrank into himself, fingers fiddling with the empty mug.

“What’s really going on, kid?” Kaito pressed.

“Don’t call me that!” Conan snapped. As quickly as the fire came, it went. Hard blue eyes stared out the window of their cafe front seats. “I can’t tell you. It’d put you in danger.”

Kaito raise an eyebrow. “Any more danger than I’m in when I’m dodging helicopters with only a hangglider or subduing the police with glitter glue?”

“Gin… if they found out I’m… people could come after you!” Conan bit his lip, trying to keep the mad rush of words back. “They’ll track you down and-!”

“Track me how?” Kaito asked, head tilting to the side. It seemed like whoever was chasing Conan had the kid terrified; a trait that didn’t go with the fearsome boy Kaito had seen. “Other than at heists, I’m practically invisible. My disguises are infallible.”

“Except to me,” the boy scowled at him.

“But you’re a special case,” Kaito grinned, patting the IQ booklet. “Speaking of, tell me already. What’s with the secrets? Kid like you can’t be in too much danger.”

The boy stayed silent, fingers once again fiddling with the mug in his hands. It was only after the waitress had come over with his to-go cup that Conan edged into an answer. “Do you… remember Kudou Shinichi?”

Kaito did, actually. There weren’t too many high school detectives around that made the news as often as Kudou. One in Osaka came close, but Kaito liked to believe that was because the teen’s father was part of the police. Kudou’s father was an author of some sort.

Kudou himself had disappeared a few months prior, supposedly working on a big case. It seemed like he only contacted Mouri Ran, never in person, and always asked to be kept out of the limelight -unlike his early high school years. The abrupt personality change had come with his disappearance, roughly four months ago…

Oh.

“Well, that makes sense,” Kaito nodded to himself.

“What?” Conan asked, having not been privy to Kaito’s inner monologue of information.

Yeah, Kaito could see the same blue eyes and smug smirk from the newspapers transformed on a smaller face -like the one from that night on the roof. But the question was, how did a sixteen-year-old become a six-year-old? Off the top of his head, Kaito could think of two ways…

“Do you believe in magic?” Kaito asked, seriously.

“ _What_?!” the way Conan’s -Shinichi’s -little nose screwed up was _adorable_.

“I’ll take that as a ‘No’,” Kaito brushed off the other’s confused looks. “So, let me guess, some kind of experimental chemical you took?”

“Poison, actually,” Kudou answered, seeming to give up on questioning how Kaito knew, “and it wasn’t willingly.”

“Poisons typically aren’t,” Kaito shrugged, turning to eat the rest of his melting ice cream. “Let me guess, the guys who did it think you’re dead and the best way to catch them is to pretend that you are and gather information on them while they aren’t looking.”

“How did you…?”

“Been there, done that, got bored three hours in,” Kaito answered, thinking back on his first encounter with Snake. “It was long enough for them to reveal their diabolical plan like all villains do.”

Tantei-kun’s – _yup, that’s what Kaito was going with_ –face tightened, “Well, I can’t afford to ‘get bored’ like you. If I step even one toe out of line, I’ll be gunned down where I stand. It’s already happened twice now.”

Kaito froze. The image of a pale Tantei-kun laying in a back alley somewhere covered in blood crossed his mind. Despite not having known the boy for long, the very thought of that scene made Kaito want to break his own ‘no injuries’ policy.

Instead, he swallowed the tasteless mush in his mouth and asked, “Do you know what they’re looking for?”

Conan was quiet for a moment before nodding, “I… found a girl who had been… working for them.”

The sudden intake of air to his lungs hurt, but it was the only thing keeping Kaito from grabbing the boy and shaking him.

“She was a scientist, the one who worked on the poison -Apotoxin as she calls it.” Just a good shake, it might knock some sense into his 165 IQ brain. “She might be able to reverse the effects it had on us.”

Okay, less shaking… maybe.

“Us?” Kaito parroted.

“She also took it and ended up like me,” Tantei-kun shrugged, “One in a million must happen pretty often. Anyway, she said that the poison was originally a compound to grant eternal life.”

KID scoffed, because _turning into a kid was exactly what eternal life was_ –then his mind stopped in its tracks. He shoved his empty ice cream bowl away. “You said eternal life.”

“Heh?” Tantei-kun looked up, seemingly wary. “Y-Yeah? What of it?”

“These bad guys of yours…” Kaito folded his arms onto the table and leaned in, keeping quiet. “Do they wear black and go by animal names?”

Tantei-kun froze up before seeming to force himself to relax. “Black yes, but not the names. Mine go by alcohols –Gin, Vodka… Vermouth. They seem to be code names.”

“Despite a difference in naming convention, there’s a high probability the guys after me are the same ones after you,” Kaito said, his eyes trailing to the table. Even as he spoke, his mind was running statistics and possibilities. How many black-coat organizations can there be in the world? In Japan? Ones that focus on finding eternal life and stop at nothing to get it?

“-after you?” Finger snapped in front of his eyes. “Hey! KID! Someone’s after you?!”

“A group of people, dressed in black, led by a guy named Snake,” Kaito confirmed, eyes flicking up to peer into concerned blue, “they’re looking for Pandora. They killed my father to get it. They almost killed me.”

“Your fa-?!” Tantei-kun cut off, biting back his initial question for a much bigger one, “what is Pandora?”

“A stone said to hold a second gem inside of it, one that glows red in the light of a full moon.” Kaito drew his shoulders up and lowered his voice. He felt like simply _talking_ about it would draw red flags in their direction, but Tantei-kun needed to know. He could tell by the fiery look in those sapphire eyes. “Story goes, it’s magic -that when it’s held up to the ten-thousand year comet, it will cry the elixir of immortal life.”

“Magic?” Tantei-kun seemed disheartened. “Really, KID?”

“I’m not about to throw out an ancient story. I’ve seen a lot of things in this world.” Not least of which was a sorceress. “But I can’t say I’ve found any proof yet.”

“The heists!” Tantei-kun hissed, “ _that’s_ why you steal gems and return them! You’re looking for Pandora!”

“I’m looking for something that _could_ be Pandora –if it even exists,” Kaito protested, “the more I look, the more those guys come around, the more I learn about my father’s murderers.”

“You’re using yourself as _bait_ -!”

“And it’s _effective_!” Kaito nearly shouted. The restaurant fell quiet, eyes turning onto the strange duo. A shy smile and nervous laugh from the boy-come-girl and everyone turned back to their own business. “It’s effective. It may be stupid and suicidal, but it’s all I’ve got!”

“It _is_ stupid and suicidal,” Tantei-kun sighed, “but it sounds like you’ve made more progress than me. You can at least go out and fish for information. I have to wait around for things to fall into my lap and hope I don’t get killed in the meantime.”

Kaito did not like the sad look on Tantei-kun’s face. Not one bit.

“Why don’t we work together? Two heads are better than one after all,” Kaito tried, offering a hand across the table. “Partners?”

Tantei-kun’s eyes flicked between Kaito’s hand and his own, before finally stretching out. “Fine. Partners… but that doesn’t mean I’m going easy on you during heists!”

“I would hope not! You’re the best challenge I’ve had in awhile! Speaking of…” Kaito waved the IQ booklet in front of the teen-turned-kid. “I’ve got to get another book!”

“Why?” Tantei-kun asked, befuddled, “what’s that got to do with anything?”

“This book is for kids! You’re not a kid!” Kaito explained with wild flailing arms, “therefore, I need to get you a better testing measurement!”

“Why does it matter so much?”

“I want an equal!”

“An eq-? Just what is your IQ level?”

“400.”

“Four-?! KID! That’s not an actual IQ number!”

Kaito laughed.

*             *             *             *             *

Kaito didn’t meet up with his Tantei-kun again until after learning how his mother and father met and meeting the bastard that was Hakuba Saguru. At least he got to see Tantei-kun during the Ryoma heist (anti-heist?) and offer him an invite to their next meeting. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a lot of new information to add, but apparently that old saying was correct.

Good things come to those who wait.

“Vermouth is actually an American celebrity, Chris ‘Sharon’ Vineyard, one that my mother trained with under the same make-up artist. She was ten years older than Mom, now she’s ten years younger.” Tantei-kun divulged over a mug of piping hot coffee. It at least had some cream in it this time, instead of being pure black like last time. (An abomination, Kaito was resolute.)

“You thinking the poison?” Kaito wondered aloud for them both.

“It’s… a possibility, but…” Tantei-kun set the mug down carefully and wiped the lip with his thumb. “Apotoxin as Haibara knows it is almost certainly a death sentence. That’s why they forced it onto me in the first place. She was at a point where it was kill herself or be killed. We both ended up lucky.”

“They could have made advancements…”

“Haibara was the leading scientist and the _only_ one that knew it forwards, backwards, and sideways. They still have her research, so they can manufacture more, but,” Tantei-kun shook his head, “any other advancements would take years without her. It must have been another project they were working on.”

“Hmm…” Kaito placed a finger to his chin (well, to Suzuki-chan’s chin).

“That’s not all I’ve got either.” Tantei-kun snatched up a paper napkin and a pen from his pocket. “She called her boss while I was unconscious, but I was able to remember this tune.”

The notes themselves didn’t mean much to Kaito. They were frequencies and products of mathematical formulas, but just what they meant at this moment, he didn’t know.

“I’m sure that the Black Organization uses this tone to email or call their boss.” Tantei-kun said ferverently. “I’ve seen several use it as a means of communication, so it has to mean something.”

“With the new phones, you might be right,” Kaito nodded, “want me to do some digging on it?”

“I…” Tantei-kun bit his lip, “Haibara said… that using this email is like opening Pandora’s box.”

That word, again. Pandora. Had she said it on accident? Or… on purpose?

“I won’t ask you to look into it, but I know I also can’t stop you if you do.” Tantei-kun’s eyes hardened into a look far too mature for his six-year-old body. “I just want to warn you. If you follow that tune, be sure to cover your tracks.”

“But of course!” Kaito laughed a good Suzuki like laugh, “no one can catch the great Phantom Thief KID!”

“Of course…” Tantei-kun sighed, cheeks red. It was like he was embarrassed to be worried over Kaito (even if it was too cute).

“Now that business is out of the way!” Kaito dropped the newest booklet onto the table before them. “Quiz time!”

“Didn’t I already do this?” Tantei-kun grouched, “what’s the point?”

“I told you! I want to find an equal!”

“And I told _you_ , four hundred isn’t-!”

“And this is a book for teenagers!” Kaito explained, “it’ll definitely have better questions!”

“Ugh, fine,” Tantei-kun grumbled, dropping his chin onto the table. “But you’re buying me more coffee. Ran hasn’t let me have any in the past six months. She thinks it will stunt my growth or something.”

“Order whatever you like!” Kaito grinned, opening the book to the first page. “Okay, question one!”

This book was significantly harder than the first one, meaning it took much longer to get through. Unlike the kid’s version, Tantei-kun did _not_ get them all correct, even with Kaito trying to telepathically _tell_ him the answer.

“D,” Tantei-kun said, after a few seconds of staring at the page.

Kaito frowned, “Are you sure? Or are you just choosing one at random to make this go faster? Because if I find out you are-!”

“KID, really, _I can’t tell the difference_.” Tantei-kun threw his hands up in defeat. “They all look like swirly maze patterns to me!”

Kaito pouted, but marked down his Tantei-kun’s answer. (The correct answer was B, by the way, where the swirl was on the left instead of the right.) The rest were slow going, but they finally made it to the end and Kaito tallied up the score. It was 262 –better than Tantei-kun’s first try, but still nowhere near Kaito’s own score (412).

“How’d I do?” Tantei-kun asked, nowhere near as enthused as Kaito would like.

“Well…” Kaito moved his hands so Tantei-kun could see his score. “It’s a good score –not  as good as mine, but I’m an exception in most cases…”

Tantei-kun stared at the slip of paper Kaito had been keeping track on. “KID, you added wrong.”

“Nope, I assure you that my mathematical skills are topnotch.” Kaito shook a finger at the boy.

“The average person scores between 85 and 114 points,” Tantei-kun listed off as if reading a statistic, “a genius is anyone with a score of 160 or higher. I would be okay with a score of 160, but don’t go making up numbers to make me feel better!”

“I’m not! People can score higher than 200 you know!”

“For the _last time_ , four-hundred is not-!”

“I took into account correct answers and how long it took you to get to those answers,” Kaito replied, pointing to the multiplier next to each number, “I’ve taken an official IQ test from a psychologist and that’s something most books leave out because no one cares enough to time themselves. But coming to the right answer in five seconds or five _minutes_ makes degrees of difference! I’m sorry if it’s something that you don’t accept, but that’s how it’s done!”

Tantei-kun looked non-plussed, but he didn’t continue to argue. Instead, he pouted down at his coffee cup for a long moment, before saying quietly, “you know, there’s no harm in being normal, KID.”

“What?” Kaito frowned.

“It’s okay to not always be the smart one.” Tantei-kun’s grip tightened around his mug -held with two hands because it couldn’t fit in one. “Not everyone is good at everything and sometimes, it’s best if you take a step back and let someone else lead the way. It might help them figure out where they truly belong in life, or it might help you find your way. Being right isn’t always the best thing in the world. Take it from me.”

Those blue eyes looked up, once again years older than they should be. “I knew those guys were bad news when I saw them in the amusement park. I knew that following them could lead somewhere bad. Ran tried to stop me from going, but I thought I was strong enough, _smart_ enough, to handle it.”

His feet kicked against the edge of the seat, too short to reach the floor anymore. For once, Kaito saw the boy for what he truly was –the shadow of a great man who had the potential to be greater, but perished instead.

“I better get going,” Tantei-kun said, slowly sliding off the booth seat until his feet hit the floor. “Ran will be wondering where I am. I'll send a note when I think we need to talk.”

“Yeah,” was all Kaito could say to that. He followed the kid home, because he couldn't _not_ with the Black Organization out and about, but he made sure to keep to the shadows, lest someone see Suzuki Sonoko following a child home. Once Tantei-kun was safely ensconced in the Mouri Detective Agency, Kaito took to the skies, needing a breath of fresh air.

*             *             *             *             *

 “Morning Kaito!” Aoko called in greeting. “Are you ready for the physics test?”

“Physics test?” Kaito looked up from his tablet. “We have a physics test?”

“Oh-ho?” Aoko shot him a sly look, smile smug, “Don’t tell me someone forgot to study?”

“Which section is it over?” Kaito asked, mentally bringing up the copy of his physics book in his head.

“Electromagnetism.”

The word didn’t bring a chapter from the school physics book, but it did bring up several other articles, books and research papers that Kaito had read over the years. He’d probably pass just with his prior knowledge, but this particular professor was keen on creating questions that drew directly from inbook examples. Kaito was _not_ going to be tripped up because he didn’t read the third example of the ‘Special Look’ section on page ninety-six of the textbook.

“Aoko, let me see your book real quick.” Kaito ordered, putting his tablet to sleep.

“Huh?” Aoko questioned aloud, even as she handed the book over. “Okay?”

A quick skim through the chapter later (example five on page 126 was more likely to be asked) and Kaito had the chapter memorized. He returned the book to his best friend.

“Thanks Aoko,” Kaito said, turning back to his tablet.

“That’s it? That’s _all_ the studying you’re going to do?!” Aoko threw her hands into the air, “Why is the world so cruel?! Why can’t I be smart?!”

Kaito stiffened.

_It’s okay to not always be the smart one._

“Hey, Aoko?” Kaito hated to interrupt such a riveting rant, but he had problems.

“Yes, Kaito?” Aoko turned her blue eyes – _same color, wrong shade_ –to him, questions in their depths. When Kaito didn't immediately reply, her brow creased. “What's wrong?”

“Aoko, I…” Kaito rested his chin in his hand, eyes straying from hers, “am I annoying when I quiz people's IQ?”

“Yes, absolutely,” she deadpanned. Her response was so fast, that Kaito's chin slipped from his hand in surprise.

“W-what?! I am not!” He protested.

“If you didn't want to know, why did you ask?!”

“I didn't think you would disagree!”

“Of course I would!” She slammed her book down onto his desk. He flinched back, keeping his hands away from her warpath. “We get that you’re a smart person, Kaito! Even when you make up IQ numbers -!”

“I do _not_ -!”

_“Even when you make up IQ numbers_ ,” Aoko spoke over him, eyes bright, “I know you’re doing it out of some need to find a place to belong. Kaito, you’re a really smart person. You’re good at math and science. You're creative and good with your hands. You're good at many things, but you aren't always the best. You learn enough to be better than most and then you get bored. Take the test this morning for example.”

Kaito opened his mouth to argue, but Aoko steamrolled past him. “I had to study for four hours every night this week to possibly get a decent grade on this test. You, on the other hand, can skim the chapter in minutes and be good to go! But you don’t think to learn more past that. You learn what you need to and just… quit. If you don’t need it, you don’t learn it -like ice skating. You never saw a need for it, so you never learned.”

“No one needs to know everything,” Kaito pouted, “takes the fun out of life!”

“What I’m saying it: not everyone is good at everything,” she rested her hip against his desk, “but sometimes, you only need to be good at one thing to find happiness.”

Kaito grew quiet, thinking over his friend’s words, worrying them like a dog and a bone. Aoko gave him a concerned look when he didn’t immediately speak up again.

“What's up, Kaito?” She huffed, crossing her arms. “It’s not like you to be self-conscious. Did something happen?”

“Well,” he began, “there's this… person…”

“Ugh, let me guess,” Aoko sighed, put upon. “You quizzed them and they got mad at you because their score is low.”

“No, they scored higher than genius –262 ,” Kaito waved away Aoko’s flustered squawk, “no, it's what they said afterwards. He said, 'it’s okay to not be smart’. Aoko, I’m okay with being –not stupid, but not smart… right?”

“Kaito…” Aoko frowned, concerned. She tried to follow her friend's logic, to find what was really eating at him. Despite supposedly having an IQ of 400 and above, Kaito was fairly predictable when it came to matters of the heart.

“I think…” she started, hesitant, “that what you're really asking… is if it's okay to be you.”

Kaito frowned, but said nothing.

“And the answer,” she leaned her elbows on his desk, “is always yes.”

*             *             *             *             *

It was a month, three heists and one incident with Snake on a train later, that Kaito found himself excitedly preparing for another heist. Not just any heist –one by Old Man Suzuki.

Which, of course, meant that Tantei-kun was sure to be there.

Kaito couldn’t _wait_ to wow the little detective with the latest trick up his sleeve. Soon enough, that little punk would be singing Kaito praises about his wit.

At least, that’s what Kaito planned for.

He did _not_ plan for the kid – _teen_ –to smuggle himself into the sidecar with Kaito’s prize.

Kaito’s entire plan crashed and burned –literally. But there was another gem crossed off his list and he and Tantei-kun got away relatively unscathed. All’s well that ends well!

Tantei-kun had even slipped him a note for the next time and place of their rendezvous. Obviously, Tantei-kun had found something of interest to Kaito, where Kaito had nothing to show for all his hard work.

Which is why Kaito found himself at the Ekoda public library, dressed in a fake identity he had conjured some months ago exactly for a purpose like this. Minoru Monoko was an average college goer, waiting tables to pay for school and studying in her free time. Her looks were average at best and forgettable to most.

Exactly what Kaito needed as he fingered the small card with the song Tantei-kun had written on it months prior.

Monoko’s library card got him onto the free computers and mentally, he started his first countdown. The computers only allowed one hour of use per card. When time ran out, he’d get booted off and have to wait for an hour before he was allowed to use it again.

He set to work opening an Incognito web browser and shoring up his defenses. Public computers like this had to have good firewalls simply for the amount of sites that people trafficked. It meant few viruses could attach themselves to him as he searched, but that didn’t prevent his search history from being seen and traced to the computer itself. IP addresses were very much a thing of annoyance.

Twenty minutes later, Kaito had bounced his IP address through several different large cities all over the world and encrypted his footsteps with fourth level security. _No one_ would be able to trace him like this.

Swallowing thickly, Kaito started a second timer in his head and carefully inputted the numbers to the song Tantei-kun had given him into the search bar. Pressing enter, he waited and…

Nothing happened.

Kaito let out a sigh of relief, then mentally berated himself for the nervous tingles through his fingers. As if just _searching_ the number/email address would cause someone to-!

“Kai-nee-chan!” a voice shouted in his head. Kaito pitched forward in his seat, smacking his nose onto the computer screen. Whipping around, he came face to face with bright blue eyes and a too-wide smile.

“T-tant-?” Kaito’s face affixed itself with a smile he didn’t feel.

“Kai-nee-chan!” Tantei-kun interrupted, grabbing Kaito’s free hand. “You got lost! We were supposed to meet on the third floor!”

“W-we were?” Kaito asked, trying to play along. Just what was going on here? Why was Tantei-kun here? And why was he pulling Kaito away from the computer?

“Uh-huh!” Tantei-kun nodded vigorously, playing up the excitable kid troupe. He whirled to the side so fast that Kaito suspected he got whiplash. “Right, Hattori-nii-san?”

“Uh…” there was another guy behind Kaito. Tall, dark skinned… he looked almost like another Kudou Shinichi, but that couldn’t be right. Tantei-kun was right in front of him.

Oh, right, Hattori Heiji, _another_ high school detective.

“ _Right_ , Hattori-nii-san?” Tantei-kun prompted again.

“Rrrriiiight,” Hattori drawled, frowning at the kid and the woman in front of him. “Third floor, Kai-san. In front of the children’s books.”

“R-right!” Kaito gently freed his hand from Tantei-kun’s, “I’ll be there soon! I just need a few more minutes-!”

“Oops!” Tantei-kun gasped, ‘accidentally’ pushing the power button off on Kaito’s computer. Kaito let out the screech of a dying cat as the screen went black. All those security features, all the redirection-!

Gone.

Kaito glared at the boy.

“I’m sowwy, Kai-nee-chan,” Tantei-kun mumbled, big eyes growing bright with tears. Kaito’s eyebrow twitched, but he couldn’t keep up the glare. Really, who could stay mad at a face like that?

“It’s fine, Ta- Conan-kun,” Kaito replied, smile weak. “I’ll just log in again when my card is usable.”

“Okay!” Like crocodile tears, Tantei-kun brightened immediately and grabbed hold of Kaito’s hand by the wrist. “Let’s go upstairs while you wait! Let’s go, Hattori-nii-san!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Hattori answered following the two up the stairs. Once they were safely ensconced in a cove at the top of the staircase, Hattori asked, “Hey, Kudou, what was that a-?”

“What were you _thinking_?!” Tantei-kun demanded, tiny hands balled into fists. “Did you even _consider_ what looking that up in a public area might _do_?! I thought you were smarter than that, KID!”

Kaito winced at the sheer _volume_ of Tantei-kun’s reprimand. Sure, go shout it to _the_ _entire world_ that Kaitou KID was in a public library. It’s not like he’s trying to keep on the _down low_ or anything.

“Hold up, _that’s_ Kaitou-?!”

“I did, actually,” Kaito cut in, “but I’ll be fine! I had firewalls and safety measures in place! No one would have known what I was doing if you hadn't run up to me!”

“You didn't even see them, did you?” Tantei-kun questioned coldly.

“See who?”

“Ten o’clock, second floor.”

Kaito blinked and, as subtly as he could, made a sweep of the ground floor, as if looking for a friend. His eyes, however, traced the second floor across the atrium, picking up a dark coat and hat before it hid behind a column.

“Kudou, is that-?”

“Hattori, don't you _dare_ take a step towards that person,” Tantei-kun ordered, not taking his eyes away from Kaito. “Stop looking _right now_ if you don't want to get _shot_.”

The Osakan sputtered, but Kaito didn’t even flinch. Instead, he crouched before Tantei-kun and ruffled his hair, making it look like Monoko was humouring the little kid. That also caused Hattori to let out choked protests, but Kaito ignored him.

“Thanks for the save, Tantei-kun, but I know how to take care of myself,” Kaito said, smile still in place.

“You might,” Tantei-kun said, not moving to stop Kaito’s hand. He lifted a thin eyebrow, “But do they? The people that were sharing the same computer as you in the lobby? Those by the cafe, buying lunch? The receptionist that sees every person that walks into this library? Can _they_ handle themselves?”

That… Kaito had not thought of that. He had been focused on getting something, anything, on the Black Organization for Tantei-kun, in order to keep the kid –teen -out of the spotlight. If that meant bringing it onto him, well…

Kaito had been born for the show lights.

But the people around him had not.

“Apologies, Tantei-kun,” Kaito said, “I had forgotten that our enemy is not always as disgressionable.”

“Kudou, I’ve had it!” Hattori shouted, “What enemy is he talking about and _why are you teaming up with Kaitou KID_?!”

“I’ve told you about them, Hattori,” Tantei-kun answered with a put-upon sigh, “The ones who changed me?”

“Okay, but… what about _KID_?”

“He apparently has had similar run ins with them in the past,” Tantei-kun said, turning to look back at his friend. “I was poisoned with a toxin that was supposed to be the answer to escaping death. KID… is looking for a stone called Pandora, said to grant immortal life. He’s trying to keep it out of the hands of some… unsavory people.”

“Both parties are looking for some kind of youth potion?” Hattori scratched the hair beneath his cap. “But still, why KID?”

Kaito scoffed and crossed his arms. “I bet your IQ is 200 even.”

Hattori frowned, eyebrows knitting together. “Thank… you?”

“KID claims his is over 400,” Tantei-kun explained, “and that mine is 260-something.”

“400 isn’t an IQ - _wait, that was an insult_!?”

“I think I shall be taking my leave now, Tantei-kun,” Kaito ignored the ranting of the Osakan teen.

“If you leave like that, they’re going to follow you,” Tantei-kun pointed out.

“It’s a good thing I always have a spare disguise on me,” Kaito grinned as he watched the other two look him over, searching for wherever he would keep a second set of clothing. His clothes were tight fitting and the small handbag he had as a purse was nowhere _near_ big enough for a spare outfit. He threw them a salute and turned back down the staircase.

Halfway down, obscured from view, he threw down smoke pellets with a delightful crack. Taking advantage of the smoke screen, he discarded Minoru Monoko and pulled on Old Man Sanji, a perverted ex-chef that had a penchant for candy suckers.

Descending the rest of the stairs, Kaito kept a grip on the wooden cane that helped him along the lobby floor. He felt a pair of eyes on him as he retreated, but didn’t feel anyone following. At the door, he paused to look back, only to lock gazes with blue eyes.

Tantei-kun really was amazing.

He turned back to leave, but just before he could push open the door, something caught the corner of his eye. Meandering over, he picked up a book and flipped open the first few pages before grinning giddily to himself.

Yes, this book would do nicely.

*             *             *             *             *

Tantei-kun cancelled their meet up, wanting to give some time between nearly being found and another rendevous. Kaito couldn’t fault him… but that didn’t mean he had to like it. It just wasn’t fun without Tantei-kun. He needed his Tantei time!

But it did allow him to set up his little surprise for Tantei.

The book he had rented was another IQ book, but a special one. One that took Kaito himself nearly an hour to finish. He also had Aoko do it to get a baseline for ‘normal’ people (it took her four hours). He figured that, between the two of them, he’d be able to calculate Tantei-kun’s score fairly accurately.

Then he got called out by not just one, not just two, but _three_ rival thieves, the last of which left Kaito in a twitchy mental state. He didn’t know who Corbeau was, but the fact that the man wore his father’s face… it left Kaito shivering with flashbacks of the day of his father’s murder. He woke up more often than not in a cold sweat.

Add onto that fact that he had practically _killed_ Nightmare and…

He wasn’t having a good month.

He needed some Tantei time.

Which is why, instead of waiting for Tantei-kun to contact him, Kaito slipped a note into the boy’s pocket during Jirokichi’s latest challenge. He’d come close, _so_ close, to Tantei-kun, could have reached out and touched him –and instead held a gun to the boy’s head.

Kaito was sure that, had he done any differently, he wouldn’t have been able to complete the heist. He’d have ended up as a puddle of KID on the ground.

Maybe Tantei-kun knew it, maybe not, but the boy wisely chose not to turn around, didn’t make a move to read the note. He played his part during the heist and figured out his trick when Kaito went back the next night for the other shoe. Teleportation indeed.

Right now, Kaito wanted to teleport to any place but where he was.

It was fifteen minutes after his requested meeting time and Kaito had not seen hide nor hair of Tantei-kun. Had the boy decided not to show? Had Kaito been too pushy? Too forward?

Was this the end of their partnership?

Kaito nervously twisted a straw wrapper to pieces between his fingers.

He probably shouldn’t have asked for a meet up. Tantei-kun had always been the one to propose them, few as they were. He probably didn’t like Kaito butting in where he wasn’t wanted.

A figure sat across from Kaito.

For a second, Kaito’s heart leapt in his throat, but the person was too big, too tall. They weren’t Tantei-kun. He opened his mouth to shoo them away, “I’m sorry, but that seat is t-!”

“You know, I’ve been meaning to ask,” an unfamiliar, yet not, voice started, “But why is it always women? Why don’t you ever disguise yourself as men?”

“It’s more of a challenge and women are often overlooked as being too weak to commit crimes.” Kaito answered automatically. He blinked as familiar ( _oh so familiar_ ) blue eyes sparkled as their owner grinned. “Tantei-kun?”

“In the flesh.” Tante – _Shinichi_ –gestured wide with his arms as if to say _look at me_. And look Kaito did. He’d known the detective was good looking. He’d read newspapers and looked up crime scene photos. Hell, Kaito had _disguised_ himself as Shinichi. He knew _exactly_ how many interested looks he got on the street.

It had just… never hit Kaito how mouth watering Shinichi was when he was sitting right before him -smiling like an idiot before curling down into a shuddering cough. “Well, more so than usual, I guess.”

“When –Why – _How_ -?!”

“I told you Haibara was working on an antidote.” Shinichi said, coughing again into his hand.

“So then…” Kaito frowned, picking at the straw wrapper again, “you’re cured?”

Shinichi winced, “Not exactly. This is just a prototype. One that, unfortunately, my body is quickly developing a resistance to. It only really lasts while my immune system is compromised.”

“In other words, you got sick and this girl decided you’d make a good lab rat?” Kaito’s eyes narrowed.

“Again, not exactly.” Shinichi waved a waitress over to place his order -coffee, obviously. “I learned about an alcohol that had similar effects under the same conditions. I just told her about it and, well, she got curious. I’m just glad to get some time back in my own body.”

“So…” Kaito toyed with the long-haired wig he was wearing (Aoko’s disguise, a classic). “How long until you change back?”

“Probably a few hours.” Shinichi shrugged. He thanked the waitress when she appeared with his drink and scooped up the mug with both hands, despite the fact that his larger hands could easily fit it in one palm. Shinichi scowled at his mug, as if just realizing that fact. He sipped calmly, “Anyway, why did you call me out?”

Kaito felt the bundle of nervous, fear and frustration slowly float back to the surface. “I… Do you remember the Nightmare case? The one a few weeks ago?”

“Killed an Interpol agent in the crossfire, yeah.” Shinichi said, voice dropping low. “That doesn’t sound like you. I thought you have a ‘no injuries’ policy.”

“I do.” Kaito said quietly.

“Let me guess, Nightmare didn’t?” Shinichi scowled at his coffee again.

“...Nightmare was him.” Kaito said.

“Was who?”

“The Interpol agent.” Kaito dropped his hands into his lap to hide how hard he was clenching them. “He had a son. Son had a tumor of some kind. The father wanted to get money for an operation, so he… double-dipped in a way.”

“He would work with the thieves, demand a cut of the profit, and then turn them in, wouldn’t he?” It was phrased like a question, but the tone made it anything but. Kaito didn’t even have to say anything. “I hate it when people feel the need to do something like that.”

“I tried to save him,” Kaito confessed quietly. The scene was vivid in his eyes, the fall, the thud, the _blood._ He was the reason a man, a _father_ , was dead. He was the reason some little eight-year old boy would grow up _without a father to teach him magic tricks and clap for Kaito’s own-!_ “He… he had tripped, fallen off the catwalk. I grabbed him as he fell, but I only got one hand. I couldn’t pull him up and my glove-!”

Kaito didn’t realize how frantic his words had become until they suddenly stopped, a heavy hand resting on his head. The warmth of it seeped through the wig down to his skin, making his scalp tingle.

“It’s okay.” Shinichi said quietly. “It’s not your fault.”

Kaito let out a shaky breath he hadn’t known he was holding. His shoulders drew up, suddenly lighter from some invisible burden he had been carrying. A few silent tears ran down his cheeks, but he couldn’t allow any more right now.

They would ruin his makeup.

Instead, he patted his eyes dry and straightened up, ready to get to the real reason he’d called on Tantei-kun, “I had another run in with Snake.”

“Where?” Shinichi asked, but Kaito knew the real question: which heist?

“The challenge from Corbeau,” Kaito revealed, trying not to think of the eerie doppelganger of his father. “Second night, I found out the thief's trick and confronted him… but I guess I wasn’t the only one. Snake was there and a gaggle of his men. They held Corbeau and I at gunpoint before Corbeau distracted them and froze their feet to the floor.”

Kaito cracked a smile, “Nakamori-keibu found shoes covered in ice stuck to the floor when he got back. He has them in the evidence locker, but doesn’t seem to know what to do with them.”

“Sounds like you’ve had quite the busy few weeks,” Shinichi said, taking a sip of his coffee before choking and slamming the mug back down. “Wait, he got their _shoes_?!”

“Uh, yes?” Kaito gave the detective a wary look. “That _is_ what I said.”

“He got their shoes…” Shinichi said, mystified, then again, louder, “He got their shoes!”

“Yeah, he has their shoes,” Kaito scowled, “What of it?”

“We can get prints! Soil samples! Possibly DNA inside the soles -I have to go!” Shinichi jumped up, suddenly in a hurry to be off.

“Wait!” Kaito called after him. “What about our-!?” Meeting? Date? Planning session?

Kaito wanted to go with date. It sounded more intimate, less cheap.

What? Shinichi was hot. And smart. Something that was very much a turn on for Kaito.

A guy could dream okay?

“We’ll continue later!” Shinichi called over his shoulder, already halfway out the door. “My house! Ten o’clock! Second floor window!”

Well, Kaito guessed this date was continuing to a more _private_ location.

He liked the sound of that.

*             *             *             *             *

Several hours later, Kaito found himself outside Shinichi’s second story window, perched on the ledge as he jimmied open the lock. He’d remembered to bring his new IQ book with him this time, so he was prepared to (finally!) get Shinichi’s real IQ score. In seconds, the lock was open and Kaito slid inside, careful to keep quiet just in case the Kudous were home.

Not that he didn’t want to meet Shinichi’s parents. He just… didn’t want to do it when he was sneaking into their house at night.

First impressions and all.

“Shinichi?” Kaito called out softly. “Shiniiichi…”

A pained scream had Kaito startling in shock before racing to the source. Down the hall, another scream sounded from behind a closed door -it sounded like Shinichi. Readying his card gun, Kaito tugged his hat firmly over his head and shuffled closer to the door. He… didn’t _hear_ sounds of struggle or fighting. Maybe -?

A third scream -the loudest thus far -and a following _thud_ had Kaito throwing open the door, heedless of what danger might be on the other side. There was no BO member, no murderer or thief. What he found instead was…

“Shinichi!” Kaito shouted, dropping to the floor. Shinichi – _Tantei_ - _kun_ –lay in a pile of his own clothes, swamped in fabric much too large. The boy sweat profusely as pain-glazed eyes sought Kaito’s own. “Tantei-kun? Tantei-kun! Are you okay?”

“Shhh…” Tantei-kun raised a weak, clumsy hand, patting Kaito’s cheek soothingly. Kaito got a smack in the nose and a fingerprint on his monocle before the kid decided he’d done enough comforting. “‘S fine. ‘S th’dote.”

“ _Screaming in pain_ sure doesn’t sound _fine_ to me!” Kaito snapped back. The boy didn’t retort, instead falling lax in Kaito’s arms. “Tantei-kun? Tantei-kun!”

_Click_

Kaito froze at the sound of a gun safety going off.

“Who are you?!” a little girl’s voice demanded. Kaito slowly chanced a look back.

A young, strawberry-blonde girl stood in the doorway, hands shaking around a gun. Kaito lowered himself over Tantei-kun’s prone body, but the girl jerked the gun at him. “Don’t move!”

Kaito remained still.

“Who are you?!” she demanded again.

“I think it would be obvious.” Kaito said, trying to buy some time to plan an escape. “I am the gentleman thief, Kaitou KID.”

Her shaking settle slightly, relieving Kaito. Shaking fingers and gun triggers were _not_ nice friends. “Why are you here?”

“Tantei-kun met up with me earlier today.” Kaito explained carefully, not sure how much Tantei-kun had shared with her. “We were sharing information. I mentioned that Nakamori-keibu had some shoes from possible members of the Black Organization and he…”

“Got excited and ran off to procure the evidence,” she finished, lowering her gun. “And completely forgot to tell me that he’d invited you over to finish your meeting?”

“That sounds about right,” Kaito said, relaxing now that the gun was off him. The girl stalked forward, careful to keep her distance from him, until she stood over Tantei-kun.

She scoffed, “Idiot.”

Then aimed the gun at Tantei-kun’s head and fired.

Kaito dove down, feeling the world slow down around him as he tried to shield Tantei-kun from the bite of the bullet. He would never be fast enough –reaction was _always_ slower than action. And yet…

Kaito stared, speechless, at the bouquet of fake flowers that extended from the end of the gun.

The girl gave him a deadpan look. “You really think I would shoot him over something like this?”

“Well…” Kaito faltered, “You were part of the organization that’s hunting us down.”

“And I’m being hunted by them as well,” the girl said, resetting her gun, “But at least you’ve got good instincts and a smart head on your shoulders. I approve. You may keep in touch with Kudou-kun.”

“I… don’t think that’s your decision?” Kaito blinked, not entirely sure where this conversation was going (or, for that matter, where it had begun).

“More so than you know,” she answered coolly. She nodded to Tantei-kun. “He’ll be out for another few minutes. I’ll get his clothes, you dress him. Then we’ll all talk.”

Kaito wanted to protest, he really did.

But this little, elementary-aged girl scared the shit out of him.

*             *             *             *             *

 “I told you: I’m _fine_!” Tantei-kun said loudly after Kaito had asked for the fourteenth time.

“We just need to bring his sugar levels up and get some protein in him.” Haibara Ai said, handing the boy a juice box and protein bar.

“It didn’t _sound_ fine,” Kaito grumbled to himself, “how were the shoes?”

“Being frozen and thawed probably didn’t help,” Tantei-kun took a long drag of his juice, “but I’m pretty confident we’ll find _something_ to start tracing. There were nineteen pairs of shoes. There’s bound to be _some_ leads.”

“How did you get all nineteen pairs from Nakamori-keibu?” Kaito asked, impressed.

“I didn’t. Megure-keibu did. I just went in to ask as Kudou Shinichi for the shoes to be examined,” Tantei-kun shrugged, “told him it was for a top-secret case.”

“And he believed you?”

“I got the FBI to confirm it,” Tantei-kun said before swallowing the protein bar in one bite.

“You… know the _FBI_?” Kaito’s jaw dropped. Tantei-kun knew the FBI… and they were _still_ chasing the Black Organization?

“I know a few people,” Tantei-kun confirmed, “no one high up the food chain. Besides, they don’t have free rein here in Japan. If they attempt to do anything without our government’s say-so, they’ll end up in hot water.”

Yeah, that sounded about right to Kaito.

“Anyway, now that I’ve given you the summary of my discoveries, did you have any -what is that book?” Tantei-kun demanded when Kaito pulled the book from the inner pocket of his jacket. The boy looked so unimpressed. “Please don’t tell me it’s another IQ book.”

“But it’s different Tantei-kun!”  Kaito said emphatically. He gave the book a wave. “It’s made especially for detectives!”

“Is this what he’s been hounding you about?” Haibara asked, befuddled.

Tantei-kun rolled his eyes and sighed, “unfortunately.”

“I’m just looking for an intellectual equal!” Kaito protested, “is that too much to ask?!”

“Yes! It is!” Tantei-kun sat up straight.

“What is your IQ?” Haibara asked with a cross of her arms.

“Especially when you-!”

“400,” Kaito replied.

“-make up numbers _is no one listening to me_?!”

“Tsk,” Haibara clicked her tongue against her teeth, “not high enough.”

“How high is yours?” Kaito asked, insanely curious now.

“315,” she answered, seriously. Tantei-kun gawked. “How high is Kudou-san’s?”

“262,” Kaito shrugged with a what-can-you-do attitude.

“Strange,” Haibara tilted her head, “I thought it would have been higher.”

“I know, right?”

“Guys, please. Stop,” Tantei-kun buried his face in his arms as if that would stop the madness that was high IQs.

“But something a friend of mine said got me thinking.” Kaito waved the new IQ book. “‘You don’t have to be smart all the time’. Which means, the time when you _are_ smart, you’re amazing!”

“That is _not_ what I meant-!”

“I don’t think I follow,” Haibara frowned, “could you rephrase?”

“Instead of putting his skill points into things equally, Tantei-kun put them all into one thing!” Kaito explained.

“Detectiving,” Haibara guessed.

“Exactly!” Kaito shot her a finger gun. “Which means that I need to switch up the game!”

“Interesting,” Haibara put a finger to her chin, “are you ready to play, Kudou-san?”

“I don’t even know what’s going on anymore,” The boy sulked into his hands.

“Great!” Kaito chirped before opening the book to the first question, “a man is found hanging from the ceiling in his house. There are no windows and the door was locked. There is a puddle of water under him. How did he-?”

“Ice,” Tantei-kun answered without looking up from his hands.

“... That’s right,” Kaito said, a little bemused. That question had taken him at least a minute to think on. Tantei-kun answered it before he was even finished reading! Kaito glanced at the piece of paper he’d brought with both his and Aoko’s scores.

What’s a multiplier that was bigger than Kaito’s?

“Next question,” Tantei-kun prompted, finally dropping his hands.

“Hold on, I need to record your score for later,” Kaito replied, making a mark willy-nilly.

Haibara glanced over his shoulder, “using the time factor for accuracy?”

“Yes, but I’m not sure of the multiplier.” Kaito scratched his head under his hat. “This is mine at 400. This is my friend’s at 90. So…?”

“It would probably be around 1.6,” Haibara answered, “if you’re looking for percentages.”

Kaito squinted at the page, “hmm… yeah, I could see that.”

“What are you doing?” Tantei-kun griped impatiently.

“Trying to figure out how to score you for the quick answer,” Kaito replied, making a mark on his page, “okay, next question! A man is found dead in the garage with a bullet hole in his head, a gun in one hand and a cassette tape in the other. The police at the scene play the cassette tape and hear the man’s message: _I can’t continue to live in a world like this_ , followed by a gunshot. The inspector says-!”

“It’s a murder case,” Tantei-kun finished.

“...Why?” Kaito asked.

Tantei-kun shrugged, “if it were suicide, who re-wound the tape?”

Kaito blinked at him, then at Haibara, then back at Tantei-kun before looking back down at his score sheet. “So that one would be… 5?”

“I believe so,” Haibara agreed, looking over his shoulder.

Kaito looked back at the bored expression on Tantei-kun’s face and gulped. This… might just hurt Kaito’s ego… a lot.

Again and again and again, the answers flew by. The book that took Kaito an hour to finish took Tantei-kun thirty minutes -and that was only because Kaito took time to read the question aloud (silent to verbal reading had a ratio of about 1:10 speed-wise).

“Okay, last question,” Kaito said, grumpy. Tantei-kun wasn’t supposed to be this good. “A man steals a rare, exotic goldfish from an aquarium and hides himself in one of five houses. A detective is called in to do some undercover sleuthing. He discovers that each house has a different color, and that the person inside had a different favorite drink, brand of smoke, pet, and is of a different nationality. He returns to the police with these clues.”

“That’s not what detectives are for,” Tantei-kun grumbled.

“Your clues are:

_“The British man lives in the red house._

_The Swedish man had a dog for a pet._

_The Danish man drinks tea._

_The green house is to the left of the white house._

_The owner of the green house drinks coffee._

_The person that smokes Pall Mall has a bird._

_The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhill._

_The person that lives in the middle house drinks milk._

_The Norwegian lives in the first house._

_The person that smokes Blend lives next to the person that has a cat._

_The person that has a horse lives next to the one that smokes Dunhill._

_The one that smokes Bluemaster drinks beer._

_The German smokes Prince._

_The Norwegian lives next to a blue house._

_The person that smokes Blend has a neighbor that drinks water.”_

 

“I have a piece of paper and a pencil if you need to work through it,” Kaito offered with a magical flick of his hand.

“No need,” Tantei-kun took the last drag of juice, the annoying sucking sound filling the air, “I already know the answer.”

“So who-?” Kaito didn’t even get to finish his question.

“The german,” Tantei-kun replied.

_“... How-?!”_

“It was a case of simple process of elimination,” Tantei-kun said, eyes blinking wide and innocent. “Once the every person was matched with a house, drink, pet, and smoke brand, it left the german in the green house with coffee, prince cigarettes, and a pet fish -the one stolen from the aquarium.”

Kaito felt his face growing how, but he couldn’t tell if it was from anger or arousal. He decided to go with anger. “That question took me _twenty minutes to_ -!”

“What KID-san is saying…” Haibara cut in, “is that he forgot to tell you a clue.”

“What?” Tantei-kun asked.

“What?” Kaito squawked.

“The detective also found out,” Haibara uncrossed her hands to put the on her hips, “that the german had a library full of Sherlock Holmes books.”

Tantei-kun stared at her with a growing look of horror. He thrust a hand out at Kaito. “Gimme that paper.”

“What does that change?” Kaito asked, handing over the paper and pencil.

“No one who likes Sherlock Holmes can be a criminal!” Tantei-kun defended vehemently as he bent over the paper to work out any possible different solutions.

“While he’s doing that, let’s look at a subtotal score,” Haibara said, sitting down next to Kaito. Having given away his only writing utensil, Kaito and Haibara were left with mentally multiplying and adding the math. Which was fine, ‘cause they were geniuses and all.

“So it looks like about 849,” Kaito whispered to the girl as Tantei-kun continued to toil away in vein.

“That’s taking in the score of the last question before the clue I gave him,” Haibara stated.

Kaito frowned, “But your clue would skew the results.”

“No, it would only show how much Kudou-san will falter when a fact is introduced that has nothing to do with the case itself. It’s happened plenty of times before.” Haibara leaned back against the couch cushion. “He’ll blindly believe someone is good for the simplest things, right up until they put a gun to his head.”

“That’s stupid,” Kaito muttered to himself.

“Yes, it is,” Haibara sighed, “which is why that works against his IQ. No matter how smart someone is, if they don’t want to see something, they won’t.”

“AAARGH!” Tantei-kun groaned, running a hand through his hair for the umpteenth time in ten minutes. It was looking quite messy by now. “There’s no answer! I need more facts! I need the alibis of every person, eyewitnesses, the fingerprints, the _DNA samples_!”

“Kudou-san,” Haibara called his attention. Straight-faced, she said, “I lied about the Holmes books.”

Tantei-kun’s jaw dropped as he stared at her in what looked like betrayal. He threw himself back against the cushions (little drama queen) and tossed the pencil back onto the table. Petulantly, he crossed his arms, “ _never_ lie about _Holmes_!”

“And he called it quits at ten minutes, forty-two seconds,” Haibara listed off, with a look at her watch, “after already knowing the right answer.”

“Can’t believe you _lied about Holmes_ …” Tantei-kun continued to grumble under his breath.

“Deduction of points with multiplier 2,” Haibara ignored him and nudged Kaito to write down the final score.

“With that, your IQ is sitting at a nice 633,” Kaito grinned, “apparently, my hypothesis was correct.”

“Which one was that again?” Tantei-kun asked without really looking interested.

“That you put all your focus in one thing where I put it into many different things.” Kaito ruffled his hair just to get those simmering blue eyes on him.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m a detective otaku. I’ve heard it all before,” Tantei-kun said, shooing away Kaito’s hand, “are you happy now?”

“Immensely so!” Kaito slipped the score sheet into the IQ booklet and slipped both into his jacket. “I have finally found my equal!”

“In the body of a six-year-old,” Tantei-kun scoffed.

“In the mind of a _sixteen_ -year-old,” Kaito said, leaning down over Tantei-kun. The sudden looming gave the boy a start. Blue eyes glanced up at him wary. “With a hot body to match when he finally grows up.”

Tantei-kun’s cheeks flared with red. “K-KID! You can’t just _say_ -!”

“Anyway!” Kaito sang as he jumped to his feet, cape flaring after him, “I can’t wait to meet up with you next heist, Tantei-kun! Or should I say… Meitantei?”

Kaito couldn’t resist a wink at the stupefied faces of the two kids. Then he was off, flying into the night. He was already looking forward to their next battle of wits.

*             *             *             *             *

OMAKE Theater

[or, what this fic was _really_ supposed to be]

*             *             *             *             *

 “Give it up, KID!” Conan shouted as the KID Taskforce fell in behind him, “you’ll never outsmart me!”

“Says the person without a 400 IQ!” KID sang from where he was balanced on top of a light post.

“What-? You don’t have an IQ of _–400 isn’t even a number_!” Conan sputtered, “and even if it _was_ you wouldn’t have an IQ that big!”

“My wikipedia page begs to differ!” KID sang, flashing his phone at his Tantei-kun and the taskforce surrounding him.

“You probably put it on there yours –wait!” Conan paused, brow furrowing, “you have a wikipedia page?”

“Yup!” KID grinned his famous grin.

“With all things KID on it?”

“Yes, sir!”

“And your secret identity?”

“Ye-!” KID stopped smiling, “I mean… noooo?”

“It’s on there, isn’t it?” Conan deadpanned. Turning to the nearest officer, he ordered, “Look up KID’s wikipedia page.”

“No!” KID said frantically, typing away at his phone, “It’s not on there! I swear!”

Suddenly, KID smiled.

Conan’s eyes narrowed, “you just changed it to something else, didn’t you?”

“Now why would you think that?” KID sang, leaning to the left, but miraculously staying atop the lamppost.

“You changed it to _me_ , didn’t you?” Conan didn’t even have to ask. He knew.

“Guys!” the officer Conan had ordered to look KID up shouted to the rest of the force, “Kudou Shinichi is Kaito KID!”

“Oh my gosh!”

“I never saw that coming!”

“It makes so much sense!”

“Yeah, Kudou disappears and Kaito KID-?”

“Yeah, yeah!”

Conan facepalmed so hard, he left red marks on his face.

“Wait, let’s look up Kudou Shinichi’s wikipedia page!”

Conan paled. _Oh no_ …

“Guys! Conan Edogawa is _Kudou Shinichi_!

“Oh my gosh!”

“I never saw that coming!”

“It makes so much sense!”

“Yeah, Kudou disappears and Conan-?”

“Yeah, yeah!”

Conan glared at KID. The phantom thief did a little finger wave back.

“Guys!” One officer put his hands up, looking for complete silence. And he received it. “Conan Edogawa… is… Kaito KID!”

“Oh my gosh!”

“I never saw that coming!”

“It makes so much sense!”

“I’m _right here_!” Conan shouted at the officers. He flailed his hands at the phantom thief. “And KID is _right there_! What do you call _that_?!”

“One of KID’s dummies!”

“Yeah, it’s gotta be!”

“Conan is KID! I repeat Conan is KID!”

“Get ‘em!”

Conan let out a squawk as he was dog-piled by the officers. KID laughed as he waved to the struggling detective and took to the sky.

He loved playing with Tantei-kun.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to say "Good Job!" or "Sequel please!", just leave a Kudo (Or Kaito, i'm not picky. ;) ). I only want comments that have constructive criticism so that I can work on improving my writing skills.


End file.
